Popular Articles

Environmental Sustainability: A Definition For Environmental Professionals, John Morelli

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

While acknowledging the need for “sustainability,” this paper summarizes the problems that have been encountered in our understanding and use of this concept. It explores the efforts of others to define the concept within the context of specific disciplinary areas and sets forth a proposal for a basic understanding of the term “environmental sustainability” as an expansion of our common perception of the nature of human activity so as to more clearly connect it with the ecological concept of interdependence and to serve as a goal for environmental managers.

Hydroponic Fodder Systems For Dairy Cattle?, Larry F. Tranel

Animal Industry Report

There is renewed interest in hydroponic fodder systems for dairy, livestock or poultry operations. The thought of putting one pound of seed into a hydroponic system producing 10 times its weight in fodder is appealing. However, the actual dry matter weight of the original grain to the fodder produced may or may not increase. Research reviews are very inconsistent in any dry matter production or animal performance benefits. The aim of this analysis is to assist producers weigh the high production costs of hydroponic fodder systems relative to any real or perceived nutritional benefits gained from feeding hydroponic fodder.

The Importance Of Human Resource Management In Strategic Sustainability: An Art And Science Perspective, Harold Schroeder

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

Strategic sustainability is associated with significant business benefits as well as positive environmental impacts, yet many organizations fail to recognize the potential of this approach, and neglect the factors necessary for its successful implementation. This article recommends an art and science based approach to strategic sustainability and discusses the important role of Human Resource professionals in contributing to the success of this approach. A number of key areas of responsibility for the HR department in relation to strategic sustainability are discussed and the importance of a more proactive approach on the part of HR professionals is noted.

Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension

This NebGuide describes methods to maximize the effectiveness of injectable medications for cattle, while minimizing potential risks for the animal, the operator and the consumer. The key elements to giving proper injections are knowing why, when, where and how injectable medications should be used. Medications are commonly given to cattle as part of regular husbandry practices to improve health, control disease or increase productivity. Medications may be given by injection, by mouth (orally) or through the skin as a pour-on (topically). Injections are commonly given into the muscle (intramuscularly, or IM), under the skin (subcutaneously, or SC) or into the ...

World ethanol production rose to nearly 13.5 billion gallon in 2006. Ethanol has been part of alcoholic beverages for long time, but its application has expanded much beyond that during the 20th Century. Much of the recent interest is in the use of ethanol as fuel. In this paper, we have reviewed published literature on current ethanol production and separation methods, and chemical and sensory analysis techniques. Ethanol produced by fermentation, called bioethanol, accounts for approximately 95% of the ethanol production. It is recently widely used as an additive to gasoline. Corn in the Unites States and sugarcane in ...

The Effect Of Mulch Type And Thickness On The Soil Surface Evaporation Rate, Michael Mcmillen

Horticulture and Crop Science

There is a continual drive to conserve water and improve irrigation efficiency in agriculture, especially in regions where water resources are limited and regulated. Mulching is one cultural practice which can be used to reduce water needs. Using certain agricultural byproducts as mulch is a sustainable practice which can provide other benefits as well such as improving soil. Wheat straw, grass clippings, and leaf debris are fairly abundant byproducts which can be used as mulch. An experiment was conducted to determine which of these readily available mulching materials would be best at conserving soil moisture, and at which thicknesses, 5 ...

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tomatoes are a source of income and food security for small-landholder farmers across Uganda, including the Kamuli District. Studies regarding sustainable practices are needed to increase production of the crop and improve farmers' livelihoods. This study investigated three tomato cultivars, Heinz 1370, Nuru F1, and MT 56, pesticide application, staking, and mulching for their effect on yield, disease severity and gross margin of tomato production in the Kamuli District of Uganda. The treatments were tested in a randomized complete block design with a factorial and split-plot arrangement during two growing seasons in 2013. Total and marketable fruit number, marketable fruit ...

The Effect Of High And Low Dietary Fiber Diets On The Performance Of Two Lines Of Chickens With Divergent Growth Rates, Muhammed Walugembe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An experiment was designed to determine the effects of feeding high dietary fiber on the performance, cecal short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration and cecal microbial ecology of broiler and layer chicks. All diets were formulated to meet or exceed NRC (1994) standards for starter chicks with the lower fiber diet based on corn-soybean meal (SBM) and the higher fiber diet formulated using corn-SBM-dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and wheat bran. The higher fiber diet contained 60.0 g/kg of both DDGS and wheat bran from 1-12 d and 80.0 g/kg of both DDGS and wheat ...

All Articles in Agriculture

Iowa State Research Farm Reports Available To Public, Mark S. Honeyman

Integrated Crop Management News

There are fourteen Iowa State University Research and Demonstration Farms in Iowa; nine owned by associations (local farmers) and five owned by the university. One responsibility of Iowa State to the associations is to provide an annual farm progress report on the agricultural research and related scientific agriculture activities conducted at the farm as a year-end summary. Those reports, that were made available in the past to the members and others in print form, are now available online to the public athttp://fpr.extension.iastate.edu/ in a new format.

Integrated Crop Management News

Individuals planning to become a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) can attend a two-day ISU Extension course to assist with exam preparation. ISU extension specialists will cover the performance objectives for the exam and provide additional assistance on topic areas of most concern to students. Students will take interactive quizzes during the course and finish with a practice examination.

Integrated Crop Management News

Confinement site manure applicators and anyone interested in learning about manure issues should plan to attend a two-hour workshop offered by Iowa State University (ISU) Extension in January or February 2011. These workshops are offered in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). There is no fee to attend the workshops, but applicators will need to pay certification fees to complete certification requirements.

Integrated Crop Management News

Commercial manure applicators can attend three hours of training on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011, to meet annual commercial manure applicator certification requirements. Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will conduct Commercial Manure Applicator training from 9 a.m. to noon at 75 locations in Iowa, and four locations in surrounding states. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. There is no fee for the workshop but applicators must register by Dec. 30 with the ISU Extension county office where they plan to attend. A complete list of county extension offices offering this workshop ...

Agricultural Soil Profile Temperature In A Hot And Arid Ecosystem: Can It Be A Useful Indicator Of Environmental Change?, Abdirashid Elmi

21st International Conference on Environmental Indicators (ICEI 2015)

The Expanding U.S. Market For Fresh Produce, Roxanne L. B. Clemens

Iowa Ag Review

The U.S. Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion urges consumers to eat between five and nine servings of fresh fruits and vegetables per day. Not all consumers are reaching that goal, but per capita consumption of fresh produce is steadily increasing (see Figure 1). Between 1980 and 2001, per capita consumption of fresh fruits increased by 19 percent and consumption of vegetables (including potatoes) increased by 29 percent. At the same time, new technologies to extend shelf life and new trade agreements have increasingly allowed imports of fresh produce to fill gaps where domestic supplies are too small and ...

Agricultural Price Swings And Iowa’S Economy, Chad E. Hart

Iowa Ag Review

Over the past few months, we have seen tremendous variability in commodity prices. Soybean futures prices have increased by roughly 50 percent since mid-July, spurred on by lower-thanexpected production and an evertightening supply. Cattle futures prices have fallen by nearly 20 percent since the announcement of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) case in Washington. But what do these price swings mean for Iowa’s agricultural and overall state economy?

Targeting Efficiency In The Conservation Security Program, Resource And Environmental Policy Division, Center For Agricultural And Rural Development

Iowa Ag Review

The much anticipated implementation rules for the Conservation Security Program (CSP), authorized in the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act, were unveiled January 2, in the Federal Register. In addition to describing the proposed rules, the Natural Resources Conservation Service outlines the challenge they faced in constructing a coherent implementation plan for a program that was initially developed as an entitlement program but later faced funding caps. The magnitude of this challenge is aptly summarized by the USDA’s Economic Research Service, which finds that if all of the 1.8 million farms and ranches likely to be eligible ...

Risk-Free Farming?, Bruce A. Babcock, Chad E. Hart

Iowa Ag Review

The direction of U.S. farm policy changed with the passage of the 2002 farm bill and the 2000 Agricultural Risk Protection Act. Previous farm bills, together with the old crop insurance program, had gradually moved the crops sector toward greater market orientation, with farmers taking on more market risk in exchange for greater planting flexibility. But the beginning of this decade brought with it increased protection against both adverse price movements and crop losses. These policy changes were brought about largely at the behest of farm commodity organizations, who argued that they needed increased protection against the vagaries of ...

Iowa Ag Review

After 15 years of negotiations, China became a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. Since then, with eliminated or lowered tariffs, China’s bilateral trade has grown significantly. In 2002, the value of Chinese exports and imports for agricultural products reached $14.5 billion and $16.1 billion, respectively, and its total value of exports in agricultural products increased by $1.2 billion from the previous year.

Ethanol: Policies, Production, And Profitability, Chad E. Hart

Iowa Ag Review

The proposed federal energy bill, currently back in committee for further debate, has targeted a dramatic increase in the use of renewable fuel sources, and that has helped focus a vast amount of attention on ethanol over the past year. By 2012, five billion gallons of renewable fuels would make up part of the nation’s fuel supply. That is nearly double the current amount of ethanol in use.

Policy Reforms In World Sugar Markets: What Would Happen?, Amani Elobeid, John C. Beghin

Iowa Ag Review

The international sugar market is not a “free” market because of extensive use of production quotas, import controls, government support prices, and preferential trade agreements of rich countries. In the United States, the European Union, and Japan, protectionist policies have resulted in domestic prices up to three times greater than the world sugar price. In recent years, the World Trade Organization (WTO), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and regional agreements have mounted international pressure to liberalize sugar markets in the most offending countries but without much success. Nevertheless, the major protectionist countries are becoming aware that current sugar policies ...

Booming Commodities: How Long Will It Last?, Bruce A. Babcock

Iowa Ag Review

Who would have thought that we would once again see $3 corn and $10 soybeans? Iowa farmers have not seen such price strength since 1996 for corn and 1974 for soybeans. At the same time, Iowa hog prices have strengthened in recent months; egg prices have more than doubled in the last two years; and cattle prices would be at record highs if U.S. export markets had not closed down as a result of the mad cow disease scare. Even so, cattle prices have hovered around $85.

Iowa Ag Review

China has one of the lowest levels of per capita milk consumption in the world, averaging just 5.6 kilograms (kg) per year in 2003. Consumption varies greatly by region, income level, and household location (rural or urban). Throughout the mid-1980s and early 1990s, milk consumption in urban China was stagnant, at about 4.8 kg per person, and rural consumption hovered at just 0.6 kg per person. While rural per capita consumption of dairy products grew weakly in the late 1990s, urban consumption of fresh dairy products has grown an average of 25 percent annually since 1997, reaching ...

Iowa Ag Review

Recently, a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel ruled on a dispute between Brazil and the United States. The dispute, filed by Brazil over cotton subsidies, accused the United States of lowering world agricultural prices and distorting agricultural trade flows through various forms of agricultural support. Preliminary findings, as reported by major news sources such as CNN, the New York Times, and the Economist magazine, indicate that the WTO panel agreed with most of Brazil’s case. The results of these findings and the ongoing WTO agricultural trade negotiations could have a dramatic impact on the ways agriculture can be supported ...

Keeping Farmers On The Land: Agritourism In The European Union, Roxanne L. B. Clemens

Iowa Ag Review

A relatively small amount of arable land, high population density, and high land and labor costs in several E.U. countries make it difficult for many families to stay on farmland that has been handed down for generations. Direct government help is limited because the European Union is under pressure to reduce agricultural subsidies. As part of the policy package developed to address these issues, the European Union has created incentives for producers to add value to agricultural production by participating in agritourism.

Iowa Ag Review

As increased attention is focused on the issue of water quality in the state of Iowa, policymakers must grapple with the pressures of balancing federal water quality requirements, tight conservation budgets, and citizen concern for environmental preservation and restoration of Iowa’s water resources. Efforts to improve water quality typically entail significant costs, either in the form of state resources to fund cleanup efforts or private costs associated with altering land uses, farming practices, municipal treatment facility expansions, or other investments.

Processing Or Exports: Which Path For U.S. Grain?, Bruce A. Babcock

Iowa Ag Review

I owa is the center of the world’s most productive corn and soybean region. Along with Illinois and Indiana to the east, Minnesota and South Dakota to the north, Nebraska to the west, and Missouri to the south, this region produces an abundance of low-cost feed that when used by the highly efficient U.S. meat and dairy sectors provides consumers with low-cost food. The traditional view of agriculture in this region is one in which domestically produced grain is fed to domestically produced livestock that is slaughtered for domestic consumption. The surplus grain is then exported to support ...

Export Taxes And Their Effects On Farmers' Profitability And Risk In Argentina, Ezequiel M. Villamil

Dissertations and Theses in Agricultural Economics

This main objective of this thesis is to analyze the effects of export taxes on the risk faced by farmers in different regions of Argentina in their cropping operations for wheat, sunflower, soybeans and corn. In the first chapter we introduce the variables and explain the agricultural environment in Argentina. A set of three profit function models with different export tax policies were specified in a Monte Carlo simulation template using data from 1985 to the present. A set of risk measures for the upper and lower partial moments along with the overall probability distribution statistics are used to asses ...

Strong U.S. Pork Exports In 2004: The Story Behind The Numbers, Roxanne L. B. Clemens

Iowa Ag Review

U.S. hog prices have been quite strong this year. Part of the reason for this strength is the large increase in export demand since December 23, 2003, when the U.S. government announced a case of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in a Holstein cow imported from Canada. The announcement triggered bans on imports of U.S. beef in many international markets. Canadian beef is also banned in these markets because of BSE, and Australia and New Zealand are unable to provide the volume and type (that is, grain-fed) of beef needed to make up the shortfall. Demand for pork ...